Sailor Stories

ALTHOUGH the Gauls were more advanced than the earlier
peoples in France, there were other early nations far
more civilized than they—such as the
Phœnicians and
the Greeks.

The Phœnicians owned only a narrow strip of land in
Asia, but they were born sailors and traders, and soon
learned to know all the shores of the Mediterranean
Sea. When some Phœnician traders first reached the
southern shore of Gaul, perhaps as early as 1300
b.c.
,
they made friends with the natives, as usual, and began
to trade their goods and trinkets for furs and metal.

The Phœnicians were manufacturers as well as traders,
and were anxious to get as much metal as possible to
make fine weapons. They therefore taught the Gauls how
to become good miners, and encouraged them to bring tin
from the British islands, as well as gold, silver, and
copper from the interior of Gaul.

For many years the Phœnicians were the only strangers
to land in Gaul, but in the ninth century some traders
came from the island of Rhodes, and it was they, we
suppose, who named the river Rhone after their island.
After the Phœnicians and Rhodians came some Greeks,
who not only carried on trade with Gaul, but founded
some settlements there.

Sailors, you know, like to spin yarns, which are often
interesting, even if they are not true. The ancient
sailors were like those of to-day. Some of them made up
a long story which told of the visit of the god
Hercules in Gaul.
While there, they said, he was attacked by the sons of
Neptune, god of the sea, who would have defeated him,
had not his father Jupitor caused a rain of stones to
fall down from heaven to rout the enemy. If any one
doubted this story, he was told to look at the plain
near the mouth of the Rhone River, where stones lay in
heaps—the very missiles which had rained down from
the sky!

It was also said that Herculues founded the city of
Nimes (neem) in Gaul; that he made great gaps in the
Alps, so the people could trade with Italy; and that he
then wandered off to Spain, where he tore some huge
rocks apart, to open a passage so that the waters of
the Mediterranean could flow out into the Atlantic
Ocean. The heights on either side of the Strait of
Gibraltar were therefore called the Pillars of
Hercules.

An interesting story was told about the first voyage of
Greeks to Gaul. A gallic chief, it is said, invited the
Greek captain to attend a feast which he was giving to
all the unmarried men in the neighborhood. The stranger
accepted this invitation, enjoyed the feast, and when
it was over, saw the chief's daughter enter the hall
carrying a cupful of wine. Clad in white, with broad
ornaments of gold clasped around her arms and waist,
and heavy braids of golden hair falling nearly to her
feet, this maiden seemed so beautiful that the Greek
captain stared at her in surprise.

On of the guests then told him that, according to the
custom of the country, the girl was going to choose a
husband among her father's guests, by handing the cup
she carried tot he man who pleased her most. To the
amazement of all, the maiden gave this cup to the
stranger. He married her and settled down in her
country, where he is
said to have founded the city of Marseilles (mar-sālz')
in 600 b.c.

There is no doubt that about this time the Greeks began
to trade all along the seashore, and that they founded
not only Marseilles but several other cities in
southern France. They encouraged art and learning as
well as trade, and for a long time Marseilles was the
most important city in Gaul; so, many young men went
there to study, just as they go to some famous college
now.